


Familiar sounds

by Graylines



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: And Tony's heart is not in good shape, Attempted Kidnapping, But it doesn't work because peter isn't an idiot, Doesn't listen, I however know next to nothing, Irondad, Matt murdock mentions, Nick fury is usually good at his job but..., No one listens to tony and everything goes wrong, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter isn't exactly a hacker but he's no slack with a computer either, Peter parker is paranoid, So this is really low level and abstract, The kid is spiderman ok? Give him some credit, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Wonder where he got that from?, peter is observant, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24618781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Graylines/pseuds/Graylines
Summary: Hey kid, how did your physics practical go?"Peter's more thrown off by how perfect a replica this is than he would be if he could find something else distinctly wrong about this situation. His spidey senses are quiet so they know enough to not threaten him outright. And whoever this is mimicks Tony well. He hasn't taken his eyes off his perusing of the streets instead of actually watching the road. Until he realizes Peter's taken too long to answer the question."That bad huh?" The copy offers, finally glancing in his direction. "What was it? The noise in the room? Or did the Jones girl distract you? C'mon kid I know you can do those equations in your sleep slacking off because you're bored isn't gonna cut it."
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 37
Kudos: 356





	1. Chapter 1

Peter attributes it to all the times he found himself pressing his ear to Tony's chest using his broken sputtering heartbeats to ground himself back in reality.

It's odd. To be so used to an irregular sound. No heart sounds like Tony's, no steady pounding has been able to steady the shake in his fingers. 

Not May with her quick fluttering bird's wing beats tickling against the side of his head as she passed her fingers through his hair.

Not Mrs. Potts unusually steady thrumming as she pulled him through the chaos of screaming reporters. So calm in the moment.

Not colonel Rhodes perfect rhythm beating in time with his breath as he tries to bring Peter down from a panic attack.

Peter knows very clearly the rattling wheezing sound Tony's heart makes as it pushes his blood through his body. He can tap the best out on his knee to calm minor anxiety.

So Peter knows the thing sitting next to him isn't Tony. As soon as the car door shuts behind him and the soundproofing cuts out the noise of a hundred teenagers behind him he can hear it. Even as not Tong leans over and adjusts the radio so he can chatter over it. His hands tap along on the steering wheel never falling out of beat even while he tells a completely different story he knows   
This is not Tony. It's his face and his voice and even his smirk but it's not him.

"Hey kid, how did your physics practical go?" 

Peter's more thrown off by how perfect a replica this is than he would be if he could find something else distinctly wrong about this situation. His spidey senses are quiet so they know enough to not threaten him outright. And whoever this is mimicks Tony well. He hasn't taken his eyes off his perusing of the streets instead of actually watching the road. Until he realizes Peter's taken too long to answer the question.

"That bad huh?" The copy offers, finally glancing in his direction. "What was it? The noise in the room? Or did the Jones girl distract you? C'mon kid I know you can do those equations in your sleep slacking off because you're bored isn't gonna cut it." 

Peter feels a deep breath fill his lungs and filtering a false sense of calm into his muscles. He cracks a nervous smile not quite making eye contact with the imposter. "I didn't do bad, geez you jump to conclusions so quickly. The practical went fine. Decathlon, however, was a nightmare. Mj completely wiped the floor with me."

He chuckles. "Well, I guess we're just gonna have to go over your flashcards this weekend. Surprise by the way, three day trip to the compound. I know it's not my weekend but I already cleared it with aunt hottie. You me, the appropriate amount of calories and a solid eight hours of sleep between lab time. As per Pepper's orders."

He did turn to look at him this time. Fully sizing him up and still not bothering to pay attention to the road. "I've got a company project I have to finish. But if we get that done today we have all weekend for whatever we want. Think you're up to it?"

Peter shrugged. Trying to get a look at his surroundings without being too obvious. The doors were unlocked. "I mean, I'll definitely look at it. Maybe I can help." There's an intersection up ahead.

"You sell yourself short kid. But I guess we'll see when we get there." 

The car takes a turn away from midtown and in the direction of the compound. But gets caught in a red light. Peter takes a deep breath and casually fiddles with the straps of his backpack by his feet. When the car finally rolls to a complete stop he wrenches the door open and bolts. 

He can hear Tony's voice calling for him but he knows better than to turn around. Running between cars sliding over taxis. He makes it onto the sidewalk and disappears into the crowd as quickly as he can. He pulls his hoodie out of his bag and slips it over his head. Hood up shoulders pulled tight. He cuts through a couple of alleyways going in the opposite direction back towards midtown before he has the foresight to shut off his phone's location. 

Whoever was pretending to be Mr. Stark had access to his cars, his watch; Both of which are specifically designed to only work with Mr. Stark's permission. 

Peter sends a text to aunt May. 'I'm fine but someone after me. He looks like Mr. Stark but he's not. I'm turning my phone off. Don't go home. Turn your phone off. I'll come get you when it's clear. ' he sent a similar one to Ned and MJ too. Then used his SI app to send Karen into dark mode. 

He is theoretically untrackable now. At least through his stark tech. He doesn't know what's going on but he does know that he couldn't contact Mr. Stark and that leaves him with very few options on where he could go from here. He's gonna have to completely avoid every connection he has with Tony. But first, he knew he had to get off Friday's radar. He had to disappear from her facial recognition software. 

He combed his hair down over his forehead and threw on his sunglasses. It was gray and overcast but covering his eyes and the bridge of his nose would reduce his chance of getting picked up if Friday looked through the traffic cams.

He wove his way through sidewalks and alleyways. Heading south for a long time before cutting diagonally northeast. He only has a couple of contacts Mr. Stark doesn't know about, but he didn't think he'd ever have to come to them without his mask.


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you mean you lost the kid?" Fury demanded. Phone pressed to his ear.

"He ran sir. I was following all the Ques and speech patterns and he didn't seem suspicious but as soon as we stopped for the red light he ran from the car. He must have found a tell on me."

Tony rolled his eyes from his temporary workbench. "I told you this was a stupid plan from the beginning. I told you the kid wasn't gonna fall for it but does anyone listen to me? No. I'm only a certified genius who knows Pete personally. What do I know?"

Fury had shoved a finger into his other ear to block out Tony's self-righteous blabbering. 

"I thought kree didn't have tells. You told me you just needed twenty-four hours with Tony and you'd be able to mimic him perfectly."

He could he sigh on the other end of the line. "Because usually, I can. I don't know what I did wrong unless he has some secret code with the kid that I didn't know about." 

Fury grunted. This whole plan was falling apart. He needed this gear finished and tested this weekend and apparently Tony needed a teenager to enter a highly classified government facility in order to finish it for him. If it wasn't of world-saving importance he'd have knocked the big-mouthed scientist over the head hours ago.

"Stark. Is there anything you failed to tell us about spiderman?" 

Tony didn't even dignify the exchange with eye contact, just continued to work and talk. "Oh no, you've got most of it in that file you aren't supposed to have. Unless you mean about how the kid would react to this farse which again would be a no since I told you from the beginning this was a mistake. So congratulations you've just scared him off into the city where you'll probably never find him. Now are we done with the holding me hostage part of this or can I go pick up my intern before he works himself into a panic and sets up camp in a sewer?"

"You can track him but you're not leaving, every second you waste endangers the Kree people orbiting our planet and that endangers us. If they are found the Skrull will be at our doorstep and they're a lot harder to get rid of than Chiari or Asgardians.

Tony grit his teeth but begrudgingly followed his order. He verbally managed Friday's system scouring the city's camera network for any sign of Peter. He checked his phone and suit too but was unsurprised that both trackers we're offline and not responding to the kickstart protocol. 

It wasn't until hours later with still no sign of Peter that Tony really started to work himself up. He'd tried to call May and both of Peter's friends. All of their phones we're off and their device locations showed they were at work or home.

He'd called Pepper who called up to the hospital but nurse Parker supposedly wasn't on shift tonight. When he'd finally hacked into Karen's system she sent him on a virtual wild goose chase pinging her location off of several towers throughout the state to throw him off. 

He had to completely break through three layers of protocols. Blackout he was familiar with, he'd programmed it. But this 'pinball' protocol using nearby cellphone's VPNs like cell towers to mask the actual location threw him. It was clever and a pain in the ass to decode. 

The entire exercise was ultimately a distraction. The spider-man suit sans the web-shooters was found on the balcony of Pepper Potts's apartment with Peter's phone tucked in the mask.

Tony was torn between impressed and worried. Peter could be anywhere in the city convinced that something awful had happened. Hiding from him without his suit or phone. He knew this entire kidnapping was going to be a disaster from the second Fury brought it up. He could have driven back to New York picked, Peter up from school, told him the truth, and brought him back without any of this mess going wrong. 

He still wasn't sure how they planned on getting him to the shield compound without him being suspicious. Short of drugging him, there's no way they would have gotten him all the way here. A fact he was adamant about. And he made it clear that any attempt to drug him would result in him immediately panicking and taking off. Apparently, they hadn't even gotten that far.

God this was a mess. This is exactly why Tony didn't want shield to know anything about Peter. He was pissed when Fury brought him up casually as they'd known all along about spiderman. 

But as Fury said, "if you bring him into Avengers matters and expect us not to keep a file on him you're not as smart as I thought." He prayed for the day when that lapse in judgment would stop biting him in the ass. 

Peter slipped around the streets of Hell's kitchen trying to keep his head down as much as possible. It was a rough part of town to be in after sundown and he wouldn't be able to do anything spider-like without his mask. Or with Friday probably looking for him for that matter. 

There was only one person on his short list of contacts he could think of that having a mask on or not wouldn't really matter. He'd always wondered what would happen if he ran into Matt without the mask. How that could change things. He didn't think he'd have to seek him out. It was late enough to be dark but not enough for Matt to have left the office so Peter climbed up the side of his apartment building using the bright ass sign as a deterrent. Everyone in the neighborhood knew better than to look in this direction lest they be blinded.

He let himself in the window, settling nervously into one of the living room chairs and hoping matt's weird echo location shit was good enough to identify him before he got something hurled at his head for breaking and entering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look I'm real salty about the whole it's not really nick fury thing from ffh. So.....i'm writing a they fucked it up version.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really didn't think this concept was going to be enough for an actual storyline. This was supposed to be 2 chapters but you guys really seemed to like it.

Matt was kind. In that patronizing all-knowing way of his. He set Peter up with a pallet on his living room floor. 

And Peter's been trying not to wear a path in Matt's floor with all his pacing. But he's restless. There are a lot of questions still hanging over him. He has no way of knowing if anyone is actually after him. 

If the attempted kidnapping was a one-time thing or even if it happened at all. He sits in the muted glow of the godawful neon sign leaking between drawn curtains and wonders if he made the whole thing up in his head. If May is sitting up at home on the phone with Tony and they're both beside themselves.

He knows he can't sit on Matt's floor night after night while daredevil is prowling and spiderman is on hiatus. Hiding is at best delaying the inevitable and at worst a complete waste of time. 

Whoever may or may not be after him will track him down eventually. And is it fair for him to lead them to Matt's when he does his best to keep his id a secret? I mean his cover as your average sixteen-year-old honor student was blown, how long till they realize the friendly blind lawyer is more than he appears to be.

He can't hide forever.

So he lays his options out on the table.

Spiderman is off-limits right now but he still needs to get his feet on the ground. Cutting himself off from everything was great for an escape but in the long run, he needs back up.

He needs to know who's wearing Mr. Stark's face and why. And where he really is. Tony could be in trouble for all Peter knows. 

"Have you finally made your mind up?" Matt asks. He's standing in the doorway of his bedroom already dressed in red. His body language is open and alert but plain. Something he's grown used to with Matt. He looks so in harmony with whatever space he's occupying but he isn't performative like most people. 

He has no need to hide behind gestures and posture and facial expressions. He is either earnest or blank. 

"Yeah" Peter croaks. "Thanks for letting me stay, but I can't crash on your floor forever. So I might as well figure this mess out." He plays It off with nonchalance. Falling into his spiderman persona so easily with daredevil. 

Matt gives him a little nod. "Smart"  
He turns back into his room for a minute and comes back with a little ball of black fabric in one hand. "Cover your face", he tells Peter and tosses it. 

His first stop is the Jackson heights public library. It's in Queens so it won't clue anyone into where he's staying. He still has Mrs. Mayfield's library card from when she asked him to pick some things up for her.  
He uses it to log onto one of the computers.  
Then he signs into Ned's school email.

He isn't sure exactly who's after him but he doubts they're fluent in gen Z and, to be honest, he doubts any established code is going to get past them so Peter types his email up like he would a series of texts. 

'Iron dad has been mad sus lately. Had to ghost him. My side bitch put me up for the night. But I ain't tryna wife her so I gotta get going you know? But somebody trifling ass is in my DMs talking mad shit. So you hear any tea, snap me.'

He then sends it to Ned's personal email. It should be at least a couple of hours before Friday picks up on that. But the next move he has is going to be a bit more obvious.

Mr. Stark gave him a priority code, if he ever needed to get into contact with Mrs. Potts or Happy he just needed to add the code to a text or email and Friday would push it to the top of their priority notifications. It was for emergencies only which Peter was sure this was. But what made it risky is as soon as he sent it Friday would know. And he'd compromise this email as a means of communication.

He typed it up anyway. 

'Dear Mrs potts, 

I don't mean to alarm you, I'm not sure what's going on myself or if I'm overreacting to something. I was picked up by someone that looked and acted like Mr. Stark. But I know for a fact it was not. They were a startlingly good copy whoever they were and if it wasn't for my enhanced senses I would have been fooled. I don't know where he is  
But if you come into contact with Mr. Stark be careful. Stay safe'

Peter was out the door not three minutes after hitting send.

The notification came across Friday's display as Tony was in the middle of a heated discussion with one of the shield appointed scientists he was assigned. Shield simply was not equipped for the task they asked Tony to complete. And if the stress of that wasn't enough no one had found so much as a Peter Parker look-alike in days

The kid had fallen completely off the map. Probably hunkered down somewhere waiting for the initial frenzy to die down. Tony was as impressed as he was aggravated. 

He needed help. He needed scientists who didn't stare at him blankly when he asked their opinion. He needed someone to bounce ideas off of. He found himself missing Bruce terribly. And he was concerned for Peter. That little paranoid voice in the back of his head whispered that no sixteen years old could possibly fall off of Shield's radar. If he was gone he was really gone.

Then it all got more complicated. The Leeds kid had emailed pepper with Peter's priority code. She had already opened it by the time Tony read it over and this whole situation was devolving into an even bigger mess than it was when he was first kidnapped from his living room at three in the morning by the dread pirate Roberts.

Part of him was glad that Peter would find it necessary to warn Pepper. If there ever was a legitimate threat to her and not this shield concocted alien skin Walker fiasco then Peter would look out for her. 

But now he'd have to explain it to Pepper when he got back and hope she didn't think he was a fake. Or that peter was crazy.

Tony tracked the email back to the public library computer it was sent from. Evidently, Peter was taking the situation very seriously. Probably more so than Tony would have and he's paranoid as hell. The computer was too old to have any photo capabilities. The most he could find was the blurry outline of a figure about Peter's height exiting the building exactly two minutes and thirty-seven seconds after the email was sent. 

There was no footage of him outside the building an hour before or after the email was sent either. Another email sent from the same source four minutes earlier caught his eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we please stop underestimating and infantalizing peter as a fandom. Thank you.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony could tell Shield was furious that they couldn't find any trace of Peter. But as the search drug on and Tony continued to work tirelessly on Fury's alien protection project searching for Peter fell by the wayside. 

It had been almost 60 hours since the last time he'd slept. And Fury had spent no less than thirty of those hours personally breathing down Tony's neck. Without Bruce or Peter's help, he was taking much longer than Fury wanted. It was already four days in. Twice the time Fury had originally demanded and they were still a couple of all-nighters away from a good prototype. 

Tony was absolutely dead on his feet. His blood was surely more coffee than anything by this point he could feel it strain on his heart with every beat. His skin went cold and numb somewhere around the forty-eight-hour mark. And his hands shook like he was going through withdrawal. 

He knew a nap would be in order soon less he were to stroke out on the lab floor. But there was still anxiety buzzing around the back of his head. He hadn't picked up anything on Peter in a couple of days. Pepper had emailed him trying to nonchalantly ask him where he was and how everything was going. 

He sent her a quick reply saying he was tied up with a project at the moment but would feel much better after he got the opportunity to convince her he isn't a changeling.

Honestly, he couldn't quite believe how much of a disaster this whole thing turned out to be. 

He'd poured over Peter's email to his friend Ned. And God if it didn't make him feel old. He wonders when exactly he fell behind on pop culture. Or if this whole message is a ruse to waste his time. He's at least 40% sure that tea is a slang term for what he isn't sure. And the rest of the message is so jumbled and random he's resorted to sites explaining children's slang to their parent. 

"What in god's name are you distracted with Stark?" Fury barked from the doorway of the lab.

"Nothing much, still trying to find the minor you lost" 

"And how exactly is him wanting tea going to tell you where he is?" 

Tony actually turns to glance at him incredibly for a moment. "It's a code Fury, I thought you'd realize that. Don't you run an intelligence agency?" 

It still doesn't make sense.

Somewhere between looking through the material application knowing that shield always pushes for vibranium even in circumstances that would do fine with steel, he got an idea. Shuri, the only other member of Gen-Z that he was acquainted with.

It didn't take him long to decide that she was far more qualified to decipher this message than anyone here. He forwards her a copy of the email with a note attached. "What the hell does this mean?"

He tried to pretend a chunk of his already frayed attention isn't running ideas of Peter's whereabouts, not that it stops Fury from moaning and complaining from the sidelines. 

Peter and Ned have been messaging back and forth for days on a shared word doc they have between two encrypted accounts. Ned hasn't shut up for a second about being emailed back by Pepper Potts even if it was on Peter's behalf. 

She tells him through Ned that she has had exactly one email from Tony. Whatever is going on he seems to be aware of it. Not that it makes it more or less likely for it to be the real Tony. But Peter is glad that someone is taking him seriously. Mrs, Potts and maybe Mr stark.

She assures him that she's taking his warning seriously. That while she's pretty sure Tony will turn up and fix all of this she understands why he has reacted so drastically. And that he is welcome to come stay with her if he needs to. That not even someone with Tony's level of access can enter her apartment without her permission. Not unless it was the real Tony and he hacked through his own system at least. 

And while that all sounded good it was the closing that really caught his attention. 

Mrs. Potts says that she's been in contact with his aunt since she found his suit and phone on her balcony and that she's assigned an escort to accompany her to and from work every day. It was the most amount of protection she would agree to. 

And Peter was more than relieved. Mrs. Potts was an Angel. 

Without having to worry about May he was free to pursue contacts and whatever leads he could dig up. 

And well, a couple of heroes owe him favors. 

Matt was able to get a hold of Wade who pouted about not being able to see spiderman but promised to keep an ear out for any cloning operations or shapeshifters who had a vendetta against him or ironman. 

Johnny, he had to meet in person. It wasn't hard to track him down mid-flight streaking through the sky on fire.

Standing broodingly on the corner of a building wearing his borrowed daredevil mask was enough to attract his friend's attention. It only took a couple stunts to convince him he was spiderman. 

Shuri emails him back promptly probably barely glancing away from whatever project she was working on to respond.

"Hello Stark, I hope you know how old you look emailing me slang to translate. I would hope in all your resources I'm not the only one who knows the lingo. I'm a scientist not your personal teen translator.

The literal translation of this is that you were acting kinda gay lately so they decided to cut contact with you. They're staying with their side piece but need somewhere else to go. And someone talking shit about them so if their friend hears anything they should contact them on snap chat.

However due to the sheer exaggerated heavy language and the fact that you didn't send this to an intern to parse out I'm gonna guess that this is a code of some sort. Or whomever middle-aged man is trying to write this message is obviously using 'lingojam dank meme translator' and needs to chill out.

If it is a code they're telling their friend that you're suspicious and they had to go into hiding. But their safe house isn't very stable and they want to end this situation quickly. They ask their friend to contact them in what I have to guess is a predetermined place if they hear anything from their contacts. 

I look forward to speaking with you again; if you have something more interesting to talk about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make Shur's email seem part formal and part condescending. It pretty hard for me to write anything within the realm if dialog so let me know what I could have done betterer.


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you sure you can stand being out of camera view long enough to get me in there?" Peter asked crouched down on the roof of the building. He peaked over the edge trying to assess the risks of breaking into the Baxter Building.

"Oh no, do you have any idea how many cameras are pointed at the tower? There's no way we get within a block of it without attracting attention", Johnny said leaning oh so casually against the brick of the next building. 

"then why are we even talking about this?"

"Because, spider boy, we don't need to sneak in. We're gonna walk right in the front door".

Peter shot Johnny an incredulous look then slid from his crouch to plop half defeated onto the roof gravel. " I'm sorry did you not hear the part where I told you I was being watched by one of the most sophisticated systems on the planet, built by Tony Stark himself?"

"Oh no, I got that. Your on Ironman's shit list you've got to lay low." Johnny gestured to Peter slouched on the roof. Daredevil's old mask pulled down over his face like the man in black, "But isn't he more likely to be looking for you creeping around rooftops than strutting into the Baxter building?"

"That's not how AI surveillance works. FRIDAY is scanning all public camera feeds constantly. She's not gonna miss me from fifteen different angles." Peter hissed.

"Besides the Avengers idea of a disguise is sunglasses and a baseball cap. I doubt they'd be looking for anything more complicated than that." He continued as if peter hadn't spoken

"Are you even listening to me! This isn't a joke Johnny, I have people that depend on me. I can't just get kidnapped on them." Peter nearly shouted.

Johnny threw his hands up in front of his demeaning smirk. "Call down Spidey I'm not suggesting you go prancing in the door without a cover. I'm not trying to get you abducted. I have a plan."

Johnny's plan apparently included a long blonde wing, skinny jeans, and six-inch heels.

Peter hung onto Johnny's arm for support and tilted his head into his friend's shoulder letting the wig and jacket hood hide his face. He was mostly focused on putting one foot in front of the other trying not to roll his ankle in the death traps on his feet.

He could feel and hear Johnny's chuckle through the ear pressed into his shoulder. And he gripped his arm harder.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't the first time you've done this?" Peter hissed only to get wig in his mouth.

"I Don't know web-head, why do I get the feeling this isn't the first time you've worn heels?"

They eventually made it through the entrance of the Baxter building and through the lobby to the elevator. The whole time Peter gripped Johnny's arm like he was gonna fall flat on his ass if he loosened his grip even a little.

"if you must know, this is how I brought guys home before I came out to the press." Johnny disclosed obviously covering the slightest hint of vulnerability in his voice with a false confidence

Peter sighed long and hard. "Am I gonna get lice from this wig?" Johnny laughed at that. 

"This better be worth it. I'm gonna have blisters from these things." 

"Hey, you wanted to talk with the guy. It's not like I forced you into those pumps."

"Yeah well, Dr. Richards better be able to help me if pictures of us are gonna be plastered all over the tabloids claiming I'm your new girlfriend."

The elevator opened to the common room on the top floor of the Baxter Building. The Thing was sitting on the carpet with a custom gaming controller hooked up to what looked like a suped-up X-box

Sue was in the kitchen area of the open floor plan munching in something. 

"Hey Johnny" she greeted then noticed Peter, "what did I say about bringing dates to this floor?" She griped.

"It's not a date" he snarked back rolling his eyes. "It's a friend"

Peter lifted his head to look over to sue. Looking very suspicious with his black mask on under the rumpled wig. Sue raised an eyebrow clearly going on the defensive.

"What kind of friend?"

Peter could feel the slightest tingle of his spider-sense as Sue tensed. "Hello Mrs. Storm, ma'am, sorry for not wearing the usual mask. I'm spiderman."

Ben had abandoned his game at Sue's defensive tone and now stood intimidatingly to the right, Sue on the other side of the room. Peter felt kind of boxed in.

"Sorry to intrude on your evening, I need to speak with Dr. Richards."

Dr. Richards was not a paranoid man the way most heroes and super-geniuses were. He spoke openly with Peter even as he stood stiff and awkward with his borrowed mask on. Looking as suspicious as possible.

"I don't know of any shapeshifters that also have mind-reading abilities. You're certain it wasn't Dr. Stark?"

Peter nodded. "I have enhanced hearing abilities. I can hear the air expanding in your lungs from here. I can hear your heartbeat and the slight gurgle of your diner digesting. Mr. Stark's body is a little beat up at this point but the man in the car sounded like a healthy twenty-year-old. No studder or strain in his breathing. He could have been an athlete."

Dr. Richards nods quickly and enthusiastically in that way that scientists sometimes do when they're utterly fascinated with information. You could see his mind running almost like the information was floating around him and he was reading the air. 

"But other than the physical health they looked and acted like Stark?"

Peter nodded. "Down to the burn scars on his hands, the well-meaning ribbing, the inflection on certain syllables. It was freaky accurate. I thought I was overthinking it at first but….. someone's organs don't just heal like that." There's an air of tension around Peter that draws closer as he speaks as if he's pulling his paranoia around him as a defense.

Reed takes notice of the hard frown lines worn into the dirt on Spiderman's face. The exhaustion in his posture and the way he's curled slightly into himself. This whole situation is obviously taking a toll on the guy and he's looking much too old for someone close to Johnny's age. 

"I'll tell you what, you can't just walk out the front door facing the cameras with that mask on. That will kick up more of a storm than whatever headline already followed you in the door. And I take it you're trying to be unreachable to keep your head down, so why don't you let me look into this tonight, see what I can find for you and you stay the night. Get a shower and a snack, wash your mask. No one here is interested in unmasking you and at the very least you won't have to watch your back for a few hours. How does that sound?" Reed tries not to sound too much like a concerned elder. It hasn't done him any good with any other young hero. But Spidey's always been a little bit too far on the side of responsibility and he just might take on the world in a pair of pumps and Daredevil's mask if left to his own devices. 

Peter debates for less time than he responsibly should. He knows staying anywhere for too long especially somewhere as high profile as the Baxter building is dangerous. FRIDAY is looking for him for God's sake but he's exhausted and grimy and it's such a long way back to hell's kitchen and he doesn't have another hideout he can think about right now. And technically he's avoiding camera exposure by not going out again right now. At least that's the excuse he uses. 

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Dr. Richards"

Tony is asleep on the concrete floor in front of his workbench when the first successful prototype is tested. They let him sleep another hour before he has to finalize a couple of features.

He is escorted from the secret shield base and dropped in the garage of Stark Tower exactly seven days and fourteen hours after he was kidnapped from the common room of the compound. He's dead on his feet. Head pounding and stress in every line of his body. His clothes are dirty and crumpled; his hair practically flat in his head it's so weighed down with grease. 

He staggers out of the elevator and into the penthouse barely makes it to the couch before he collapses. His brain is incapable of speaking so deep in exhaustion but the shudders close over the sunrise anyways because FRIDAY is a well-coded angel. 

He wakes hours later with his shoes pulled off and a blanket tossed over him. A glass of water rests on the coffee table. FRIDAY has no messages for him but he knows Pepper is waiting somewhere for him. And Rhodey has no doubt been informed. 

He decides to shower before he has a chance to think about what to say to them. Because Pepper is really the least of his worries. There's someone else out there waiting for him to find them. Probably scared and stressed.

His work isn't done yet. Not that it ever really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to update. At first unjust wanted to do some research on johnny and Reed to get their characterization right. I spent a couple days watching a bunch of F4 movies and episodes. Then my whole world was absolutely rocked. My best friend of 5 years finished a round of exexpiremental gene therapy that removed all physical symptoms of her CF. For the first time in her life she isn't actively dying. Her life span even has been expanded by thirty years. And we had a couple weeks of euphoria and celebration. It's been fantastic.


	6. One step closer to the end

It's Rhodey that convinces him he has time to eat. Peter might be missing but it's under his own volition. The chances of the kid having been kidnapped after running away are very slim. 

So Tony clears a space of his workbench big enough to fit a plate. It's in the middle of unhinging his jaw to stuff his sandwich inside that Rhodey suddenly pauses in his perusing the map of Friday's camera surveillance.

"You said he was staying with someone he knew right? A friend?"

Tony nods his head instead of trying to speak around his sandwich. "But it wouldn't have been one of his civilian friends right? Because not only are they easy to surveil but his guilt complex would never let him put them in danger."

Again Tony nods to agree with Rhodey's train of thought. 

"So he has to be working with an ally right? Another vigilante. Who does the kid run with?"

Tony swallows hard and purses his lips in thought, then shrugs. "That fire kid. Reed's brother in law. Their friends."

Rhodes gives him a look. "That's all you've got? Tens of vigilantes in the state of Newyork and you think Peter is just friends with Johnny Storm. The Four is a close-knit team. They almost never work alone much less alone with an outsider. And they're high profile. It's much more likely that Peter would be with just one other person."

"I don't know. Peter sticks to Queens pretty much. It's his territory and the others seem to respect each other's lines."

"And you think they do that without talking to each other? There's a network of Vigilantes spread out through the boroughs and you think that they don't know each other?"

Tony seems taken aback by the realization. "I guess I just thought he kept his nose to the ground. He never said anything about allies"

"You've got to think like one of them Tony. The only way for independent agents to move around each other like that without fighting or territorial disputes is with truces. It's a whole culture between enhanced heroes. There are tiers to this kind of subculture. You've got top tiers like the X-men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers. You guys deal with international threats. You work with governments, you're the authorities among the enhanced individuals. 

Then you've got mid-tiers, Deadpool, X-men in training, The Punisher, Vision, Antman, and The Wasp. They are small teams or solo acts that aren't bound by territories but they aren't taking on world-ending threats. 

Then there's the bottom tiers and rookies like Spiderman, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Power Woman, Hell Cat, and Squirrel Girl. They tend to stick to their own territories or agendas. They aren't interested in anything outside their personal missions and somehow despite being in such close proximity are rarely seen together. 

That kind of compromise doesn't just evolve on its own, it has to be maintained, enforced, taught to each newcomer."

"Ok, but how would we track them anyway? They all avoid cops and agents like the plague. They've made it pretty obvious they don't want their identities out there. And as much as I'd love to tear the city apart looking for Peter it's only gonna make him run faster. I can't just go unmasking every vigilante in New York to find him."

Rhodey takes a moment to think before he snaps his fingers. "Friday, bring up all vigilante traffic in Queens since Peter's disappearance."

"Several vigilantes have moved into Queens in the days since Mr. Parker's disappearance. This is unusual since Spiderman has been dormant for far longer periods without an outside encroachment on his territory. 

Dare Devil appeared first after just a day. Followed by regular patrols from him, Jessica Jones, and three members of the Morlocks, an underground mutant organization loosely run by Storm of the X-men. Her second in command Caliban and his teammates' Healer and Leech have taken two regular patrols with mixed reception from the people of Queens. Deadpool has also been spotted in Queens trying to help an elderly woman with her groceries. His reception has been decidedly icey and the police have been called on him six times."

"Daredevil huh? He's across the water from Queens. What would make him pick up a patrol that far out of his neighborhood so quickly after Peter disappeared?" Rhodey mused.

"Well if there is some kind of vigilante council, Peter would have gotten the word out to whoever is in charge so they'd watch queens for him. It stands to reason that someone working as long and consistently as daredevil would hold a position of power." Tony reasoned.

"And if Peter's running from someone with as much power as you it makes sense for him to run to somebody in charge. Someone he's used to testing their judgment."

Tony nodded along quickly trying to swallow down a big bite of his sandwich to respond.

"Hell's kitchen is just a few blocks west of midtown it wouldn't take him very long to walk there. And if we can assume that Daredevil lives where he works like spiderman, then that's where Peter would be heading. FRIDAY look through footage of everything west of third street in the last week for anyone consistently obscuring their face that roughly matches Peter's height. Take all measures of disguise into account."

Peter was wrapped up in a blanket in one of the medbay cots trying to pretend like this entire night hadn't drained the hell out of him. He trusted the team enough to take his mask off in the empty room. But he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was watching him. 

The feeling had been pressing in on him since he'd first run. Knowing that someone was looking for him put him on edge. But he couldn't place whether the feeling was paranoia or his spidey sense. Whatever it was it annoyed the hell out of him. 

Part of him wondered if he didn't want to be found. He was sure that running initially had been the right thing to do. And he did think this whole thing ran a lot deeper than a simple kidnapping attempt. This wasn't some cheap fake whatever was going on was advanced. Maybe even out of his paygrade and it had targeted him. 

But it had also been a week since he'd last seen his aunt. Or his friends. Or Mr. Stark. 

And Peter never was very patient. He didn't know if Mr. Stark was ok. Or if it's safer to draw the danger away from his family or be there to defend them. He's spent a week running around dodging traffic cams and wearing God damn high heels and he doesn't feel any closer to knowing what the hell is going on. 

He tends to hit first ask questions later. And to run when he feels threatened. But what is he supposed to do when other people depend on his presence. This isn't like his normal superheroing. It isn't just him in danger with a threat that has these many resources. 

He can't run forever trying to dodge whatever conspiracy is chasing him. May deserves better. Hell, Mr. Stark deserves better. What if he's been kidnapped again? What if they're torturing him. 

He's decided then, whatever leads Dr. Richards comes back to him with, he's chasing and he isn't wasting any more time. 

Friday blinked a flashing red light to wake both men from their power naps at the work bench. Tony was still recovering from his kidnapping and one good sleep didn't do it for him like it used to.

"After cross-referencing all of the footage there are five instances that someone fitting Peter's build and height were unidentifiable. One two hours after his escape was captured by Instagram posts and security camera's tracking them in a zigzag Pattern towards Hell's kitchen.

Two more show someone boarding and exiting a ferry into Brooklyn.

And the latest one shows them entering the Baxter building six hours ago. According to the 'fantastic four, twenty-four seven' and the official Johnny Storm stocker forum they have not exited the building. 

All but one hit appears to be wearing the same grey hoodie. Face obscured by either glasses and a good or by a black mask."

"Bring up the footage from outside the Baxter building" tony ordered

Rhodey rubbed the sleep out of his eyes hoping it would make the laughable video clearer to him.

"……Are those heels?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Tony take the suit off"

"No"

"Tony!"

"No"

Pepper spread her arms over the doorway to the balcony. The redness that had collected around her collar was inching up her face with ever metallic no that echoed from the Ironman helmet.

"Tony!"

He walked towards her boots clanking on the expensive tile floor in his living room.

"Don't you dare grab me! Tony Stark I swear to God. Manhandle me and see what happens. Go ahead see what happens." She shouted. The red had bled out from her cheeks as she started yelling.

Rhodey jumped to put himself between them. Not that he had to. Tony stopped in his tracks, arms falling heavily to his sides. 

"Come on Pepper move out of the way. I don't want to replace the windows in here" he reasoned. His voice was tight and unsteady.

"Tony look at me," Rhodey said putting a hand to his chest plate "she's right. You're not thinking this through. Take the suit off" 

"I found him" Tony choked out. "I just have to go get him"

"He's afraid of you", Tony flinched back but Pepper pushed on, "or of someone wearing your face. Someone with access to your stuff. If you go flying over there half-cocked he's gonna run. You're gonna scare him off and we won't know how long he keeps his head down for this time. It could be weeks, Tony be reasonable."

The faceplate retracted into the nanites in his helmet. "So what? I'm just supposed to sit here? I just have to convince him to come home. It's my fault he ran away. I have to bring him back."

"No no Tony. It's Fury's fault he took off. You didn't send a double to kidnap him." Rhodey said backing off slightly now that Tony seemed somewhat receptive. 

"He didn't run away either Tony. Not really. He went into hiding. He found some friends to watch his back. He's working it like a case. Like a mission. He isn't sleeping on the streets or anything ok? He's safe. He's not in danger" Pepper stepped away from the doorway as Tony stepped back towards the couch.

"I can't just not do anything"

He sat down heavily on the couch. The slightest creek of the frame protested his weight in the armor. 

"What should I do?"

The phone rang through the empty kitchen. Rang to the end of its tone and paused for a moment before picking up again. Sue had wandered out of Her room to see what the noise was about. Spiderman in his unusual get up followed closely behind her, a spare blanket still wrapped over his shoulders.

She peered around the corner scanning the room.

"There's nobody in there" spidey whispered.

"How do you know?" She whispered back.

"I can sense it."

Sue walked to the phone still on it's charging mount on the counter and answered it. Her eyes flashed to Spidey's.

"Go get Reed."

He nodded and rushed back into the hallway.

Dr. Richards slunk into the room looking tired but serious as he took the phone from his wife. 

"Hello, Dr. Stark may I ask how you got this number?"

Peter had tensed up in the entryway. Eyes raking over every curtain covered window looking for a threat. Looking for an escape. 

"Right. Well, that's unfortunate. But I haven't heard from him since-.....right. Well, I don't know which of Johnny's dates-...."

Dr. Richards snapped his fingers at Sue and continued to try to lie to Tony. Sue turned around immediately to get the rest of the team. 

Peter couldn't hear much from the other side of the phone. The old unit was fuzzy and quiet. All he could make out was a rhythmic buzzing until Tony suddenly snapped.

"Reed please!"

The buzzing died down again. Whatever he had to say sounded urgent. Each syllable rattling in the plastic frame of the home phone. 

Johnny came up beside him resting his hand comfortingly in the middle of Peter's back. Ben stood on his other side shoulders rolling back in an intimidating stance. 

The panic was building in Peter with each rattle of the phone in Dr. Richards' hand. 

He stalked forward suddenly, panic nipping at his heels. He felt exposed like the air in the room was liable to turn and attack him but waiting and wondering was worse. Peter wanted to go home.

Dr. Richards handed him the phone.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Peter thank God!" The voice answered.

Peter winced his eyes screwing up to fight off the tears. The voice was painfully familiar. His mind was savoring every syllable, every inflection. He wanted so badly to be comforted by it. But the last time he heard the voice it came from someone else's mouth. 

"God kid you are way too good at hiding. I've been looking for you since the minute you took off. I can't believe you avoided FRIDAY like that. It's really impressive."

"What do you want?" Peter demanded. 

That seemed to stall him. The voice hesitated.

"I want you to come home. Your aunt misses you. I miss you."

"How do I know you're the real Mr. Stark?"

The voice hesitated again.

"Your favorite candy is the corner store watermelon crap. You eat way too many pickles on your sandwiches. You burned your hand the first time I let you use the soldering iron in the lap and it took your thumbprint right off. You joke that if you ever go into witness protection they'll only need to laser off nine finger prints --"

"Stop! The other one knew things too. He knew my friend's names. That doesn't prove anything."

"I-I don't know..I" the voice cut off and shuffling noises followed.

"Pete honey?" Ms. Potts replaced Mr. Stark's voice.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Do you remember what you said to me in your email?" He nodded and she must have known because she continued. "You said you knew because you could sense it right? The only way you're gonna accept that Tony is back is if you sense it for yourself. So why don't we pick a neutral location ok? Somewhere that doesn't have any of Tony's gadgets and you come see for yourself. You can bring your friends for back up. Me and Rhodey will come to ok? no one is gonna put you in a situation where you can't run from if it's a trick." 

"Yeah, that sounds right. Uhh good, that sounds good. Where?"

"Why don't you pick."

Peter thought for a second. "There's a park, Astoria park, near the bridge. It's next to the east river."

"All right. We'll see you there in an hour?"

"See you"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter four days later? This may be the quickest update I've ever written.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks

"We've got your back spidey. Don't worry about it" Johnny assured him.

Sue rested a comforting hand on Peter's shoulder as they rounded the entrance into the park. The four had chosen to wear casual clothes over their suits to try and not attract attention.

Each of them appeared calm. Dr. Richards had seemed confident that it was actually Mr. Stark on the phone and the rest of his team trusted his judgment but as any seasoned hero team, they didn't let that confidence blind them to the potential of danger. 

Well, maybe Johnny had. Or maybe it was just his arrogance coming through again. 

"Yeah bug, don't worry, the worst-case scenario I get to fight iron ass." He said casually slinging his arm on the headrest behind Peter.

As stressed as he was by the whole situation that did crack him a little. The faintest smile flashed across his face.

As the bridge came into sight he saw four figures standing in the grass and his face fell. The pit of dread he'd had in his stomach since he'd first run opened wide and crawled up his throat. He was hoping to get there before them. If only so it wouldn't feel like he was walking into a trap as he stepped out of the car.

Ben for all of his gentle giant demeanor opened the car door for Peter and positioned himself between his team and the possible threat standing just ten feet in front of them.

Peter could hear Mrs. Potts muttering to Mr. Stark about letting him come to them. Her hand holding his forearm as if he was escorting her. Though Peter suspected she was trying to hold him in place.

Mr. Stark looked worn out. Even more so than usual. The bags under his eyes were deep and dark like just after Germany. His shoulders were tense and screwed up high around his ears. Colonel Rhodes was hovering behind Mr. Stark with Happy, both seemed to be more emotional support than anything but Happy had his business face on. 

He'd always taken his job as head of security very seriously so it didn't surprise him that Happy might have insisted on coming if it was the real Tony he was "guarding". 

God, he hoped that was Mr. Stark. He wanted it to be so bad. He couldn't believe how badly he missed the most boring parts of his life like riding the subway to school in the mornings or eating at Delmar's with his study group. 

Not to mention how much he missed May, and Lab days, and patrolling. The papers had really started to pick up on his absence. Get well soon messages had started popping up in the neighborhood chatter section of the bugle's website like they normally did when he took several days off. 

Probably because he was always seen limping before or after his breaks and people pieced it together.

His train of thought was running away from him. Hoping from subject to subject trying to deflect from the source of his anxiety. 

He was trying very hard not to think about what he would do if it wasn't Mr. Stark standing there. 

Dr. Richards had started to walk across the pavement towards the river and the people waiting on them. The rest of the team followed behind. Ben still hovering somewhat protectively over Peter. 

The grass ahead was still wet with morning dew and the spray from the river. And the early morning light was warm despite the chill. Wind muffled all the sounds around him which was frustrating considering hearing was the sense he needed most at the moment.

Except maybe his spidey sense of course. Walking into a potentially dangerous situation and all it was important for sensing that potential danger. God focus Peter.

Mr. Stark looked anxious swaying from foot to foot nervously. His eyes were fixed heavily on Peter which made him feel exposed. 

Dr. Richards stepped forward and shook hands with Pepper. They traded pleasantries and she turned to him expectantly. 

Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath forcefully shoving his anxiety back down to his stomach. Worst case scenario this was a trap. It wasn't like he hadn't walked into plenty of those before.

So he took a step forward and then another until he was just a few feet away from Tony. He was waiting patiently for Peter to make his decision. Or at least he was trying to look patient. Actually, he looked like he was going to vibrate out of his skin. Would an imposter be such a terrible actor?

He took another step straining against the noises around him to try to hear what he was looking for. Ms. Potts' heartbeat steady and constant. And Colonel Rhodes' perfect, healthy beat.

And then there was. Mr. Stark's heart. It thudded away in his chest like he was terrified. It stuttered every several beats, wheezing with the exertion and strain of his stress. And Peter could have cried. Maybe he did a little. 

He definitely did, he rushed forward grabbing Tony around the middle his head laid against his chest. And Tony hugged him back arms wrapping around him so tightly. 

"Good to have you back kid."

"Good to be back… you look like shit by the way."

"Your fault."

Pepper's hand came to rest on his shoulder as if she needed to touch him but didn't want to break their hug.

"Does this mean I can be sure that my fiance isn't an imposter?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, MRS. Potts, it's him." He sniffled. 

"Just out of curiosity" Rhodey interjected stepping closer, "how can you tell?"

Peter paused for a moment, a blush rising to his cheeks. It seemed a bit personal to have to explain why he was so familiar with Mr. Stark's heartbeat.

He pulled back from Tony far enough to tap on his chest right where the replacement ceramic bone-implant filled the hole left in his sternum by the ark reactor. 

"His heart sounds like shit. The other guy was way too healthy." He tried to play it off nonchalantly. 

Pepper was the first to crack surprising everyone. Her hand flew up to her mouth as the first burst of giggles escaped. Rhodey and Happy quickly followed suit. 

Happy clapped Tony on the back. "Well he's got you there boss." 

Tony himself dropped his arms from around Peter and leaned back looking for all the world as if he wanted the hug to end. But he didn't pull away or break contact. 

"The nerve of today's youth. Absolutely no respect. No privacy! A man can't even circulate his blood in peace." 

Reed caught Peter's attention then. "It's great to see this has all been resolved. If you don't need us anymore spiderman we'll leave you to return to normal life."

"Of course Dr. Richards, thank you so much for everything." Peter hurried to thank him.

Johnny interjected then "Don't worry about it bug, just try to bring me something with a little more action next time." If the double meaning to 'actions weren't already very clear, the playful tilt to johnny's head and the wink he threw Peter's way was. 

"Alright," Sue griped and caught Johnny by the back of his shirt collar. She dragged him backwards through the grass.

"If you ever want another round in those heels you know where I live." He shouted over the growing distance. 

"The nerve of that guy" Tony groused. "Terrible timing."

Rhodey rolled his eyes "you were much worse."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnny may have no tact but he knows better than to flirt with someone clearly in distress. Now after the distress is gone? Well, he just can't help himself. 
> 
> Also featuring Tony snark


End file.
